Many teenagers want to change the world and most have absolutely no idea what they would specifically try to change or how they would go about doing it. Katie Welch does. She would end genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as a lead prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. It’s a long way from Steilacoom to The Hague, and for Welch that road leads straight through George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Read the rest of this entry »

For much of his high school career, Blake Greene’s interests looked disparate. He likes creating art. He likes analyzing literature. He’s concerned about social justice issues. He wants a career that will allow him to support himself comfortably. Imagining, let alone finding, a college that could tie all those threads together seemed nearly impossible.

Fortunately, Greene doesn’t dwell on impossibilities. He kept looking. He kept talking to his teachers about what he hoped to find. He applied to a long list of schools all over the map geographically and in their approach to education. In the end, he did not find a school he would describe as perfect, but he found a place with the challenges and opportunities to tie those interests together: Rhode Island School of Design, better known as RISD. Read the rest of this entry »

Once upon a time, there lived a girl who thought she knew exactly which college she wished to attend. She had her heart set on living in New York, so she researched every school in the state and by eighth grade she had made her decision. Application list in hand, she went off to visit three schools, and just like Goldilocks, she found that one was too small, one was too big and crowded, and one was just right. Now Kim Skokin is planning to live happily-ever-after for the next four years at Syracuse University, proving college admissions really can be a fairytale. Read the rest of this entry »

Sarah Yamamoto knew exactly where she wanted to go to school. It was one of the top universities in the country. She visited the campus and loved it. She spent some time in the surrounding city and felt right at home. And then she figured out what she wanted to study and decided it wasn’t the right school at all. As she researched other schools, she decided a university 2,900 miles away was a much better fit for her. The wind of freedom blows, promises the motto of Stanford University, and that wind blew Yamamoto right down to the Bay Area. Read the rest of this entry »

For Tim Chang, choosing a college was less about making a choice and more about letting go of the decision altogether and following where God was leading. It turns out that was just the sort of unconventional wisdom Rice University looks for in students and Chang is now a proud member of the Owls’ Class of 2016. Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: This story is the first 2011-2012 entry in Charles Wright’s College Choices blog series. Please check back soon for more stories or to read the 34 stories from the classes of 2010 and 2011.

When it came to choosing a short list of colleges, Anthony Wohns took a step back. He thought carefully about the experience he hopes to have for the next four years and the doors his college education will open in the future. He chose Harvard as his top choice because of the sense of belonging he felt among Harvard students and the strengths of academic programs in his areas of interest. Read the rest of this entry »

Mirroring national trends, Charles Wright saw an increase this year in the number of seniors who filed early applications to colleges. Twenty-eight students, representing a record 36% of the senior class, applied to at least one college under an “Early Decision” or “Early Action” plan, and quite a few have already received good news from their colleges. Read the rest of this entry »

High school seniors apply to multiple colleges for two reasons: 1) they do not know yet exactly where they want to study; and 2) they do not know where they will be accepted. Do your research, then hedge your bets and apply to a range of schools you would be comfortable attending including a few safety schools, a few schools you’re reasonable certain will accept you, and a few schools like feel like a reach. That’s the common advice and it is the advice that Rachael Williams took to heart. Read the rest of this entry »

By Ann Vogel, CWA Parent

Until recently, Khoe Tyner ’11 expected to be cheering in the stands for the Huskies’ football team along with her parents, both alumni of the University of Washington. Although she was accepted at UW and nine other schools, she’s instead heading from her home in Poulsbo to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where ice hockey rules. Read the rest of this entry »

By Katie Ryan, Director of College Counseling

In a year that set records for selectivity in college admissions, the Class of 2011 experienced remarkable success with their college applications. The class had an overall admit rate of 58 percent, most seniors were admitted to several schools, and 32 students reported at least one merit scholarship offer. Read the rest of this entry »